Back To the Past: Jandrew Gets Cultured. Maltese Falcon, Arsenic, Blair Witch, etc.

[MrPink]

Boy you are in for a show tonight son.

[DAR]

I envy you right now

[4815162342]

 Lol at Red 6. 

 

Porkins died for our sins.

 

Glad you really liked it.

[Blankments]

It's beautiful *tears to eyes*

 

I have a good feeling about this.

[Jandrew]

So...yeah...Empire Strikes Back...I think I liked it even more, yall. No, I know I did. Damn was that good. It started a tad off, but once it got going, it got going. My complaints were all fixed. Hamill was pretty awesome in this one. It's like he heard my criticism of him and went back and retroactively fixed his acting. He had spunk, angst, and I saw more than 1 dimension out of him this time.

 

And boy Vader...lemme tell you about Vader. That was the Vader that I expected everyone to rave about. He kicked ass, and took names. The "I am your father" line, even though I obviously knew it was coming, was still chilling to the core (and it helped that Hamill reacted the right way). Literally I said "I want Vader to be badass" and the he goes and chokes out somebody in the first 20 minutes. It's like he heard my criticism and went back and retroactively decided to choke someone out. And boy I loved those lines. "I am your father", "you know it be true", "let's rule the galaxy as father and son!" , "only your hatred can destroy me", everything he said was screenplay gold. Speaking of screenplays, better this time around.

 

YODAAAAAA!!!! Hell yes Yoda in tha house! He didn't kick ass like in the prequels, but he was still a glorious presence. I like his philosophy. Also, BILLIE DEE! Hell yeah! Lando! I loved that storyline, and I did not see that coming. They did a good job of not making it predictable. Billie Dee added this smooth, soulful presence, like James Brown joining the Beatles. I loved it.

 

R2D2 still steals scenes (tongue twister), but let me tell you about C3PO! That attitude! That SASS! Work it honey! C3PO has to be my favorite. He just makes me smile at everything. He's that goofy sidekick that doesn't get into obnoxious territory. He's far from it. (So how the hell did Jar Jar happen!?). These 2 droids have more charisma than most real life actors I see in movies today. It's almost sad actually.

 

The only negative I probably have is the middle began to drag justttttttt a tad. I liked the Yoda and Luke scenes, but I wanted them to speed it up just a notch. That battle with the Hoth with the Walkers was thrilling as hell, and very well choreographed. Again, all the action was well done. I loved the asteroid debacle as well, and Luke and Vader going at it was HYPE. 

 

Again theres so much world building in this, I see they added Boba Fett, Lando, Palpatine, Walkers, Yoda, a couple new planets, etc, yet its still all so easy to follow. No confusion, no jumping all over the place, no too big of ambition. The acting as a whole was much better this time around and I felt a nice attitude and more angst in the air. I actually like where theyre going with Han and Leia, it's not sappy or forced. She's not like one of James Bond's girls that hops on his dick when he bats his eyelash. Leia is headstrong and had no problem shoving Han away.

 

Speaking of Leia, shes badass as well. Perfect female character. She doesn't waste screentime screaming or nagging or being eye candy, or being caught by henchman every 20 minutes, or being dumb, or anything. She holds her own with the boys and is a tremendous help. If only you could say that about most female characters written today. As strong as we think Katniss is, even she spends a good deal of time whining and worrying too much about which guy she should score. And again, thank you all involved for not letting this end up 150 minutes or greater. The runtime was perfect.

 

So yeah, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A....

 

To be honest, before I watched them, I honestly thought it was a little bit of a fluke. I was thinking a little bit that people loved Star Wars so much because of the nostalgia, and because it made so much money. No, I was dumb. I see the real reason why these are loved so much. Like bruh...I'm loving it. Bring on Episode 7. Bring-it-on.

[Blankments]

The fact that Lando is apparently not in Episode VII might be one of the most disappointing things about it to me. Lando's always been my favorite OT character D:

[Empire]

Awesome review for Empire! Such a fantastic movie! My favorite of all-time!

[Jandrew]

I know it all sounds like hyperbole, but I really am this impressed. I texted my mom and she even said she has no idea why it's taken me this long to see them. I swear it's not hyperbole though, these just rock. 

 

About to cap the night with Return of the Jedi, hopefully it keeps up the pace. Don't forget to tune back in tomorrow and see what not-as-exciting movies I'll be watching. 

[Dementeleus]

So Jandrew, are you a bit more stoked that Lawrence Kasdan is involved with Episode 7?

[The Futurist]

Movies like Empire would be killed by the internet today because THE Spoiler would be everywhere and you wouldn t be able to escape it even if you wanted to ...

[Kalo]

You Loved Star Wars then, you can now officially call yourself a true lover movies, I'm so jealous you got to see star wars for the first time right now. 

[RobinHood26]

Watching Jedi right now too...

Fantastic review of Empire, my #2 movie. It's so easy to follow and simply constructed.

1st act - Hoth

2nd act - Yoda & Luke/ Falcon & asteroids

3rd act - cloud city

Too many movies today over stretch themselves by trying to go to 50 locations.

[The Futurist]

" I love You"

" I know"

Cryo machine freezes Han.

And I cry like a little girl every time ...

[Jandrew]

Okay...Jedi. I'll come right and say it's the clear #3. I have to be honest, there was a little too much nonsense in the beginning. I was hoping and praying the whole movie wouldn't be like that. Jabba and that atmosphere just felt cartoony and idiotic. It took them 30 minutes to get through it, but taking 15 (or 10) would've been more appreciated. Just didn't fit with the tone of the series. I'm also not a fan of hideous looking creatures (see my Dune review), and the Jabba bits had alot of hideous looking creatures. Leia in that bikini tho.

 

While I'm less harsh on, I feel the Ewok's were pretty silly as well. They may grow on me with a rewatch, but right now they were kind of silly. I was not impressed at first, but they did grow on me towards the end. And while they added a cool element to the final fight, they still remind me of jumbo sized teddy bears running around.

 

But other than that...C3 killed it, again. R2 wasn't as active this time around though. There was more world building and more characters, and yet again, it was pretty simple to follow. The final act was strong. That is what I had been wanting the whole movie, not the Jabba nonsense. The final Vader and Luke fight was amazing, and that score in the background was wow. And the whole angst between Luke, Vader, and Palpatine was probably the best bits of the series. And the final moments between Vader and Luke was touching. Everything then came full circle, and even though he was a villain, you felt for him, and it was a touching theme of "there's goodness in everyone" without it being cheesy or manipulative. The sibling reveal and storyline felt natural too and not manipulative.

 

Yoda ): Billie Dee was fun again, Leia and Han's story was still sweet and not forced. I also realized I haven't talked about Harrison Ford yet. So much swag (does anyone still say swag?). Harrison pulled it off flawlessly, and I love how Han's relationship with Chewy was more friend and friend, rather than master and pet. But the technical details were all really good: writing, acting, editing, score, effects, etc.

 

So yeah. The first 30 minutes were atrocious, and the Ewoks bother me a bit, but the final act was still extremely strong. Best act of the series? Possibly. It did drag a tad bit, and they could've condensed the "turn off the shield" subplot a little more, seemed like that was going on forever, but the action and drama was still well balanced and pretty powerful and mindblowing for 1983. Oh and the forest chase was pretty dang exhilarating. 4/5 stars is solid right? 

 

I'm glad I finally watched these, and can't wait to watch again. Amazing series from start to finish, and an A overall for the trilogy. My excitment for 7 has increased exponentially, especially considering 7 will be coming after this trilogy and not the prequels.

 

 

So Jandrew, are you a bit more stoked that Lawrence Kasdan is involved with Episode 7?

 

Most definitely. Gives 7 more promise. And since 7 will be following 4-6, it'll be easier for him to tie together versus if they were setting 7 between the prequels and original trilogy.

 

 

Too many movies today over stretch themselves by trying to go to 50 locations.

 

Aint that the truth. And most of them don't make use of those locations either. Every location here furthered the story and gave us something to remember. But today is more style and flash over substance and depth.

[AndyLL]

 

But other than that...like Beyonce...flawless. The special effects alone...1977? That came out in NINETEEN SEVENTY-SEVEN!? Lucas was so far ahead of his time, if he stopped and waited on it to catch up, he'd die of old age before time finally got there. Those special effects were just so good, I can't put it in words. Take about appreciation for your work, and innovation and imagination beyond belief.

 

 

Not to rub it in but seeing the opening of Star Wars in the theater with the freighter passing by being hit by the laser then the Star Destroyer coming into the frame is still the greatest movie moment I've ever had.

 

I'd never seen anything like that before. I My jaw literally dropped.

 

I also don't recall anything impressing me after that other then the rest of the OT.

 

Strangely.... my son when we see VII will be about my age when I saw SW IV.

 

He is as excited as I am.

 

That is why I think SW VII will break the box office rules and be huge in December.

[lilmac]

Not to rub it in but seeing the opening of Star Wars in the theater with the freighter passing by being hit by the laser then the Star Destroyer coming into the frame is still the greatest movie moment I've ever had.

 

I'd never seen anything like that before. I My jaw literally dropped.

 

I also don't recall anything impressing me after that other then the rest of the OT.

 

Strangely.... my son when we see VII will be about my age when I saw SW IV.

 

He is as excited as I am.

 

That is why I think SW VII will break the box office rules and be huge in December.

 

Interesting. I like hearing stories from people who saw SW in theaters. What was impressive about the scene? The size of the Destroyer?

[MrPink]

Return of the Jedi is probably the weakest of the 3, but dat space battle. Still blows my mind to this day

[The Futurist]

And that amazing forrest race in Jedi ?

Nobody talks about that ...

[Jandrew]

And that amazing forrest race in Jedi ?

Nobody talks about that ...

That scene was

[Charism]

But other than that...like Beyonce...flawless. The special effects alone...1977? That came out in NINETEEN SEVENTY-SEVEN!? Lucas was so far ahead of his time, if he stopped and waited on it to catch up, he'd die of old age before time finally got there. Those special effects were just so good, I can't put it in words. Take about appreciation for your work, and innovation and imagination beyond belief.

Great that you loved, but you do realize, that you watched few times enchanced verison, right?